noting or pertaining to a long poetic composition, usually centered upon a hero, in which a series of great achievements or events is narrated in elevated style: Homer's Iliad is an epic poem.
resembling or suggesting such poetry: an epic novel on the founding of the country.
heroic; majestic; impressively great: the epic events of the war.
of unusually great size or extent: a crime wave of epic proportions.
Slang. spectacular; very impressive; awesome: Their burgers and fries are epic!
adverb
Slang. very; extremely: That's an epic cool video!
noun
an epic poem.
epic poetry.
any composition resembling an epic.
something worthy to form the subject of an epic: The defense of the Alamo is an American epic.
(initial capital letter)Also called Old Ionic . the Greek dialect represented in the Iliad and the Odyssey, apparently Aeolic modified by Ionic.
Director Amma Asante and a knockout ensemble cast led by Gugu Mbatha-Raw tackled complex themes of race, class and gender and tell a moving story that combines intimate details and epic historical sweep.
FROM THE VAULTS – Straight, but not narrow|Brian T. Carney|September 11, 2020|Washington Blade
I wrote an epic cover story that detailed the many perks of being a Googler.
The complaints of the entitled workers of Silicon Valley|Adam Lashinsky|September 8, 2020|Fortune
Despite an epic global pandemic and an unprecedented reckoning with systemic racism, AB 5 is still in the running for the biggest story in Sacramento.
Sacramento Report: 3 Takeaways From a Wild Legislative Session|Sara Libby|September 4, 2020|Voice of San Diego
Over the millennium and a half since the sixth-century ballad was first recorded, Mulan has been the star of plays, of prose epics, of silent movies and children’s picture books and operas and Communist propaganda films.
The history of Mulan, from a 6th-century ballad to the live-action Disney movie|Constance Grady|September 4, 2020|Vox
Childs, who has been pacing himself as the series progresses, explains that his approach to a series like The Crown, which he compares to an “epic novel,” has to differ from how he treats a two-hour feature film.
How Netflix’s ‘The Crown’ achieves its look—even as each season evolves|radmarya|August 29, 2020|Fortune
Neil deGrasse Tyson weighed in on what the epic film got wrong and right.
Meet Kip Thorne, the Man Who Crafted the Artful Science of ‘Interstellar’|Asawin Suebsaeng|November 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
That corruption, says Stafford Smith, provided the opportunity for a “frame-up of epic proportions.”
Did Pablo Escobar Frame a Millionaire for Murdering Banana-Shipping Money Launderers?|Jacqui Goddard|November 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He had aspired to construct an epic figure after visiting the pyramids and sphinxes of Egypt in 1855.
128 Years Old and Still a Looker: Happy Birthday to Lady Liberty|Elizabeth Mitchell|October 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He now finds himself at the epic center of a firestorm having earlier been caught on camera throwing “liquids” at the police.
Police Brutality Inflames Hong Kong|Ben Leung|October 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The West trades on its iconography, and many writers satisfy the hunger for that epic, legendary place.
Book Bag: Gritty Stories From the Real Montana|Carrie La Seur|October 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST
On his foundation all mankind will build; through his discovery all will be aided; by his epic all will be uplifted.
Charles Sumner; his complete works, volume 7 (of 20)|Charles Sumner
This simple tale is told in twelve cantos; it aims to be an epic, and in its external form is such.
Frdric Mistral|Charles Alfred Downer
Much, very much, is epic invention, unverkennbar das werk der Dichter (p. 328).
Modern Mythology|Andrew Lang
The future epic of the world rests not with those near dead, but with those that are alive, and those that are coming into life.
Dictionary of Quotations from Ancient and Modern, English and Foreign Sources|James Wood
Dushyanta has been saved by the poet from his epic shabbiness; it may be doubted whether more has been done.
Translations of Shakuntala and Other Works|Kalidasa
British Dictionary definitions for epic
epic
/ (ˈɛpɪk) /
noun
a long narrative poem recounting in elevated style the deeds of a legendary hero, esp one originating in oral folk tradition
the genre of epic poetry
any work of literature, film, etc, having heroic deeds for its subject matter or having other qualities associated with the epica Hollywood epic
an episode in the lives of men in which heroic deeds are performed or attemptedthe epic of Scott's expedition to the South Pole
adjective
denoting, relating to, or characteristic of an epic or epics
of heroic or impressive proportionsan epic voyage
Word Origin for epic
C16: from Latin epicus, from Greek epikos, from epos speech, word, song
A long narrative poem written in elevated style, in which heroes of great historical or legendary importance perform valorous deeds. The setting is vast in scope, covering great nations, the world, or the universe, and the action is important to the history of a nation or people. The Iliad, the Odyssey, and the Aeneid are some great epics from world literature, and two great epics in English are Beowulf and Paradise Lost.
notes for epic
Figuratively, any task of great magnitude may be called “epic,” as in an “epic feat” or an “epic undertaking.”